About this replacement
Canon DM-MV20i / DM-PV1 / DV-MV20 — 7.4V Li-ion Replacement Battery (BP-617)
This is a 7.4V, 2000mAh (14.8Wh) lithium-ion replacement for the Canon BP-617 battery pack. It fits the DM-MV20i, DM-PV1, and DV-MV20 digital camcorders. Use it as a direct swap when the original cell no longer holds a charge.
- DM-MV20i, DM-PV1, and DV-MV20 platform fit: All three camcorders share the same 7.4V battery bay, connector pinout, and BMS communication protocol — one cell works across the group without adapter or modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through charge and discharge on a DM-MV20i body. The BMS accepted the cell on the first charge via the OEM charger, and capacity read-back stabilised after one full cycle.
- First-cycle BMS initialisation: On these Canon camcorders, the battery-remaining indicator maps to a voltage curve the BMS learns during the first full charge. Run the first charge to 100% inside the OEM charger — not the camera body — before recording. Skipping this step causes the indicator to jump erratically in early use.
Canon BMS authentication check on third-party cell first install
Canon's DM-series camcorders query the battery pack over the data pin on insertion. A new third-party cell may not respond with the expected handshake immediately, so the body flags it as unrecognised or shows a low-battery warning despite a full charge. The fix is straightforward: charge the cell fully in the OEM Canon charger first, then insert it into the camera. After one complete charge cycle, the BMS accepts the cell and reads the state of charge correctly from that point on.
Battery percentage jumping erratically mid-recording
This happens when the camcorder's fuel-gauge algorithm is mapping voltage thresholds from the old cell's discharge curve onto a new one with a slightly different curve shape. The indicator has not yet calibrated to the replacement cell. Discharge the battery fully until the camera shuts off, then charge uninterrupted to 100% in the OEM charger. After that full cycle, the percentage display stabilises and tracks the actual charge state accurately.